March 23, 2105 ~ Week 87

So... This week has been crazy. Monday night we had dinner with a member, and we were able to teach her nonmember adult daughter which was an awesome experience because we talked about something I really
love to study about. We taught her about fear and how it controls our lives. She was really scared about us teaching her because her dad was giving her all sorts of stuffs about the Mormons getting her. So our topic was perfect for her and helped alleviate some of her apprehension. Right after that lesson, we went and contacted a couple referrals from the Bayview Elders. We knocked on the door and they let us right in. The wife started telling us about how hard her life was right now and how she had made a lot of mistakes in her life and how she just wants to find forgiveness and how she's really concerned about giving her son a good family environment to grow up in.   Also how she hasn't been to church in a while and she really wants to go to church again.... Now for you non-missionary folks out there, in chapter 10 of PMG there is a section on "How to Begin Teaching." The purpose of this section is to help missionaries essentially set expectations and explain our purpose. In that section there are different points that we are to use, as guided by the spirit, in our teaching. She brought up essentially every single one of those points on her own. It was incredible to be able to promise her such direct specific blessings that were directly attributing to the concerns she had in her life. Plus there was a moment where I just flipped open the scriptures and started reading, and it was exactly what she needed. It was a profound testimony builder for me of how prominent the spirit has become in my life and how much it affects those who truly desire to follow it. 

So there was one miracle. I've got a bunch this week, but I will only share a few. Oh! Importance! So, Tuesday morning I was sitting there studying my scriptures. I was reading in 1st Corinthians Chapter 4. It was about 
8:45 ish and I was learning a lot about being a disciple of Christ. When suddenly, a wild Elder Watt appeared. Elder Watt the assistant... Called us... He asked me to be the District Leader again... Man oh man, that is the last thing I wanted to do. I repented quickly however, and accepted the call. So I'm that thing again. It is a wonderful experience and I really am willing to do whatsoever my Father asks of me, but I really liked doing the other thing he asked of me. Push me out of my comfort zone why don't ya!  Plus my district is leading the mission as far as numbers go, so that's a huge bonus.  I've got a district full of absolutely fantastic missionaries. No problems whatsoever. 

Ummm one more story. So in our mission right now we are making a huge focus on achieving our "Standards of Excellence." Sunday morning we were sitting outside the bishop's door waiting for ward council and the Newark 3rd sisters were there. We started talking about how each other's weeks went and they asked us about our "Standards of Excellence."  I told them how we did this week, which was super awesome, and they questioned as to how we managed such great success. My response: "No clue. I guess we just got lucky." Later in the day, I was sitting there pondering on this experience, when I remembered the words of one of our magnificent zone leaders, which he gave the previous Monday while we were shopping. He said something along the lines of, "I'm grateful for the gospel because it helps me to know that luck isn't a real thing." It's true. We didn't have a great week because we were lucky, we had a great week because our Father in Heaven blessed us. I myself am exceedingly grateful that He knows me. He hears my prayers, and He gives me strength to go out and work. So, moral of the story.... Proverbs 3:3-5

I love you all!
~Elder Jorgensen

Elder Jorgensen and Elder Payne

I asked Elder J to send me a picture of his ties.
Holy Cannoli!!!  That's a lot of ties...97 to be exact.
He is definitely staying "Tied up in the Work."